Relative Terrains Research Body 2020 - 2023
Relative Terrains is a practice-based research body that explores the interconnections between environmental changes and human experiences. The project is a collaborative effort by Karma Barnes and Robért Franken. The project has been developed over three art residencies at The School of Creativity and Art in Wellington, New Zealand in 2021 and 2022 (where Robért is a permanent artist in residence) and then continued during their third residency in late 2022 at the Northern Rivers Community Gallery in the Northern Rivers. During their residencies, Barnes and Franken immersed themselves in the natural environment exploring the geological terrains and their internal responses. Their research involved extensive fieldwork, including creative mapping, and pigment collection from across the Northern Rivers, engaging with local communities and Indigenous knowledge holders.
The resulting artworks in Relative Terrains are a reflection of their research and experiences. The large-scale installations and suspended paintings are produced in a range of mediums, including locally sourced pigments, which are used to create a connection between the artwork and the land.
The exhibition aims to create an immersive experience for the viewers, inviting them to explore the interconnections between environmental changes and human experiences. The artwork highlights the dramatic shifts in our environmental cycles and how this informs our internal and external experiences.
The exhibition was initially scheduled for January 2023 at the Lismore Regional Gallery, but the exhibition was displaced due to the devastating floods earlier this year. The Grafton Regional Gallery has now snapped up the opportunity to house the exhibition, along with a number of other displaced exhibitions.
Relative Terrains is an inspiring example of practice-based research, which highlights the importance of collaboration, engagement with local communities, and the use of locally sourced materials in the creation of artwork. The exhibition offers a unique and immersive experience that invites viewers to explore the interconnections between the environment and human experiences.
RELATIVE TERRAINS
The Mapping Internal & External Terrains: Community Cartography
Public Program and Workshop Series
Overview: The Mapping Internal & External Terrains Through Community Cartography workshop explores the intersection of art, mapping, and personal experiences. Participants will engage in a hands-on process of creating individual and collaborative artworks using localised earth pigments, eco-inks and mineral waste pigments. The workshop traverses geological terrain and landscapes and explores how we, the inhabitants of the land, form and change with the forces of the elements, time, pressures, and climatic factors. The public program and workshop series offers a significant participatory community engagement opportunity for promotion of the exhibition.
Workshop Options:
Three-hour on-site workshop
Five-hour on-site workshop
School groups and community outreach programs
Workshop Outline: Program participants are invited to each gather and bring with them 250-gram samples of locally foraged pigments, soils or soft rocks from their local environment. Participants will learn about processing materials into usable pigments, while working with binders and mulling processes to transform these pigments into natural paints. Participants will create personal concertina-style cartography’s and contribute to the ongoing collaborative series of The Mapping Internal & External Terrains: Community Cartography. Artworks produced during the workshops can be added to the artwork series during the exhibition program as part of the community engagement component of the exhibition.
Community Engagement: This program provides an excellent opportunity for community engagement. It encourages people to actively participate in the creation of art and the exploration of their local environment, fostering a sense of belonging and collective identity.
Hands-On Learning: Participants engage in a hands-on process of creating individual and collaborative artworks. This offers a unique learning experience, allowing individuals to gain practical skills in using earth pigments, eco-inks, and mineral waste pigments. They also learn about processing materials into usable pigments, working with binders, and mulling processes to transform these pigments into natural paints.
Educational Value: The program can be delivered to school groups and community outreach programs, making it an educational resource. It can be integrated into curriculum or community learning initiatives, enhancing the understanding of geography, geology, art, and environmental science.
Exhibition Enhancement: Artworks produced during the workshops can be added to the exhibition, enriching the community engagement component of the exhibition.
In summary, "RELATIVE TERRAINS: The Mapping Internal & External Terrains: Community Cartography" offers a range of benefits, including community engagement, hands-on learning, artistic expression, environmental awareness, cultural connection, collaboration, educational value, exhibition enhancement, and promotion of local resources. It provides a platform for individuals and communities to explore, express, and connect through art and the environment.
